# The Things For Which Kids Today Have No Context (another list of how things have changed) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035 "2014-08-07T14:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/201 "2014-08-08T15:06:22Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > I grew up with computer games, but the transaction model was very different: I paid once for the game, then played it all - or as much I as I could get through. Now, my son gets a game for free, plays a limited amount of it, then is invited to pay for further levels or features. Something like 90% of all games released today are of the “Pay Once, You Own It” variety. > [@DChord568](#): > > \*Actually, regular scheduled doubleheaders went away several years ago. They happen now only if there’s a need to make up an earlier postponed game. They still exist, but they’re extremely rare (and often limited to the minor leagues). ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/202 "2014-08-08T15:25:27Z")
Having a control in the next room that rotated the TV antenna on the roof to point in the direction of the correct repeaters up on the mountain. To get reception, the antenna had to point the right way. One person would watch the TV and shout to the other “a little more that way…. now back a bit… there”. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/203 "2014-08-08T15:31:39Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Having a control in the next room that rotated the TV antenna on the roof to point in the direction of the correct repeaters up on the mountain. To get reception, the antenna had to point the right way. One person would watch the TV and shout to the other “a little more that way…. now back a bit… there”. we had stickers for each channel on our antenna controller, so if we wanted to switch from channel 4 to channel 7, we had to switch it on the TV, and then rotate the big dial on the antenna controller from 4 to 7 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/204 "2014-08-08T15:33:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, thing for which kids today have no context: Calvin and Hobbes. Surprising to realize this but it’s been over eighteen years now since the last original strip was published. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/205 "2014-08-08T15:44:20Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > The two assistant principals of my high school were the bane of my existence for this very reason. I was always trying to dodge them in the halls for fear I’d get the dreaded “Get a haircut” dictum. > > This was roughly 1967-1969, and the irony is that (according to underclassmen I knew) everything seemed to change the very next year after I graduated. Suddenly, boys could wear jeans to school, girls didn’t have to wear skirts, and no one got hassled about their hair anymore. > > I’ve heard this repeated so many times over the years, and I’m not doubting that it could be true. I’m just wondering if anyone here was ever actually subjected to this practice. In this day and age, it just seems so demeaning. But it was a different era, wasn’t it? When I went to Junior High they had many of those rules. But in actual HS, that was the era of the Mini-skirt and man were those skirts short. Of course, we had a rather progressive HS. But girls did still have to wear skirts or dresses, unless it was “Bermuda day” where we could all wear shorts. My clique used to wear long shirts and ties with long dress pants on Bermuda day to protest the silliness. I guess it sorta worked as they changed to Bermuda day every Friday during the nice weather months. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/206 "2014-08-08T16:08:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not being able to leave a message when no one answers the phone. That’s not a problem, since they don’t use phones to talk, never mind using voicemail. [Millennials Shy Away from Voice Mail](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/millennials-shy-away-from-voice-mail.html?_r=0) ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/207 "2014-08-08T16:17:41Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > That’s not a problem, since they don’t use phones to talk, never mind using voicemail. > > [Millennials Shy Away from Voice Mail](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/millennials-shy-away-from-voice-mail.html?_r=0) I don’t think it’s just young people. I don’t leave voice mails unless its an emergency. People see they missed a call and call back, or I call them later. I’m in my sixties. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/208 "2014-08-08T16:20:21Z")
One quirky thing I remember from grade school was every spring we would go out in the courtyard and have a maypole dance. Holy crap, if they did that now, the bible thumpers would descend on the school like a plague of angry or something. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/209 "2014-08-08T16:33:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > When I went to Junior High they had many of those rules. But in actual HS, that was the era of the Mini-skirt and man were those skirts short. Of course, we had a rather progressive HS. But girls did still have to wear skirts or dresses, unless it was “Bermuda day” where we could all wear shorts. My clique used to wear long shirts and ties with long dress pants on Bermuda day to protest the silliness. I guess it sorta worked as they changed to Bermuda day every Friday during the nice weather months. My first year of HS, girls had to wear skirts or dresses. Some girls tried to pass off “coolots” as skirts, but they usually got caught. Boys had to wear slacks-- no jeans. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/210 "2014-08-08T16:56:23Z")
I remember in grade school everyone lined up in the gym to get a sugar cube with a drop or two of some vaccine on it. Maybe it was polio vaccine? The names Salk and Sabin come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/211 "2014-08-08T16:59:47Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > “The Rabbit Test” and cultural references to it, e.g. “Sweet Emotion,” that episode of _MASH_ where they have to perform surgery on Radar’s rabbit to test if Hot Lips is pregnant, that old Billy Crystal movie, etc. Children heck, I had to explain it to my husband and he’s 61. Television stations that went off the air at 1am. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/212 "2014-08-08T17:26:33Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I remember in grade school everyone lined up in the gym to get a sugar cube with a drop or two of some vaccine on it. Maybe it was polio vaccine? The names Salk and Sabin come to mind. Yeah, mass vaccinations. Something came in the mail to have families go to a location on a specific day for their sugar cubes. Some years later sugar cubes were being used for doses of LSD, not sure if that’s still done. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/213 "2014-08-08T17:38:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The Fine Bros on YouTube run Kids React/Teens React/Seniors React and YouTubers React. And lately they’ve been running kids’ and teens’ reactions to things that are before their time. > > For example: > [Kids React to Typewriters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxRfkZdiAQ&list=UU0v-tlzsn0QZwJnkiaUSJVQ) > [Kids React to GameBoy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pCp8g-VjOs&list=UU0v-tlzsn0QZwJnkiaUSJVQ) > [Teens React to 90s Internet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0mg9DxvfZE&list=UU0v-tlzsn0QZwJnkiaUSJVQ) > [Kids React to Rotary Phones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkuirEweZvM) > [Kids React to Walkmans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk_vV-JRZ6E) OMG! The one with the Walkman made me feel so old. Those kids had never seen a cassette player before. And when they showed them the headphones, the one kid said, “My Grandpa has these!” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/214 "2014-08-08T18:15:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Let’s not forget TV antennas on the roof. Haven’t seen one of those in ages. They are on every roof along my street, and all the other streets around. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/215 "2014-08-08T18:15:42Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I’ve heard this repeated so many times over the years, and I’m not doubting that it could be true. I’m just wondering if anyone here was ever actually subjected to this practice. In this day and age, it just seems so demeaning. But it was a different era, wasn’t it? I have never experienced it, being male, but I vividly remember a couple of girls in my high school having to kneel and be measured. I think I remember it because I was subconsciously kinky even then, and that was just the sort of thing slavegirls might have to do. Frankly, I think the “measuring skirts to make sure they meet standards” was just a rationalization that was covering some kinky thrills for the Powers That Were in those days. They might not even have realized it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/216 "2014-08-08T18:25:54Z")
Most kids are probably familiar with Walkman type portable cassette player. They probably don’t know what a giant technological advance it was when the machine would automatically reverse, eliminating the need to flip the cassette over when you came to the end of a side. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/217 "2014-08-08T18:40:28Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > They are on every roof along my street, and all the other streets around. Where is your street? Is this for regular broadcast TV? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/218 "2014-08-08T18:51:41Z")
Remember when answering machines were new and people told you NEVER to leave a message saying you weren’t home at the time because that would be an invitation to have your house robbed? So, people would say “We can’t come to the phone right now” or some other lame message. Did anyone’s house actually get burgled because of their answering machine message? Of course kids today don’t have landlines and if they did I’m sure they just say “Please leave a message” without going into any kind of detail. ETA: My brother’s from back in the day “We’re out back feeding the dobermans…” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/219 "2014-08-08T18:55:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Where is your street? Is this for regular broadcast TV? I don’t know about **njtt’s** street, but the same is true in my neighborhood. We’ve only had cable for about 25 years and nearly all of the houses are older than that. Not much point in going to the trouble/expense of taking the existing antenna down. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/220 "2014-08-08T19:01:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Where is your street? Is this for regular broadcast TV? In the UK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=12)